While rounds played continue toward another record pace in 2026, the report of July equipment sales figures from industry research firm Golf Datatech suggests a slowing of buying enthusiasm. Sales, often in both units and dollars, were down in bags, balls, irons, putters, shoes, wedges and woods this July compared to numbers from July 2025. Only in the big-ticket woods category were sales up in dollars (+2.1 percent). For the year, most categories are down in units sold, compared to the first seven months of 2025, although balls, wedges and putters are up in dollars, the latter some 10.5 percent higher than last year. Worth noting that the average selling price for a wood now is nearly 40 percent higher than it was before the pandemic—an average putter sells for almost $350 (about $125 more than it sold for in 2019) and the average price for a dozen balls is now more than $42. There’s a sense from some that premium golf equipment pricing has hit a sticker shock breaking point, but it’s worth noting that the golf data mirrors down news in the U.S. economy, which saw an unexpected drop in July that analysts suggested was a result of consumers spending less because of higher gas prices and inflation. One silver lining: Sales (in dollars) are higher than they were in most categories in 2024.

As I strolled past the practice green at East Lake, I spied a gold putter resting safely inside a Toulon staff bag. Co-founder Joe Toulon, who's in town giving pros a peek at their latest wares, confirmed that the gold "Leucadia" blade is part of the putter company's new Coastal California collection, which launches this week.

Joe and his brother Tony, who also helped found Toulon, grew up north of San Diego and both chose the University of San Francisco for college. They know the California freeways well.

Interestingly, the new Coastal California face mill on these putters draws from classic California highway signage. The "golden sand" PVD finish and "ocean blue" accents are meant to evoke the place where sand meets sea. Four distinct models, each reflecting the places that shaped them, will drop this week on Toulon's website.

It's Tour Championship week, which means two things: A LOT of money is on the line at East Lake and you'll probably see this old clip of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson there. The year was 2002 and while the first-tee announcer rattled off an intro for Tiger highlighting many of his recent accomplishments, Phil finally had enough, interupting with an "Alright, alright," which sent the crowd—and Tiger—into laughter. Here it is in case you've never seen it, or just want to watch it again.

Of course, neither Woods nor Mickelson is in the field this week, but 23 years later, that trip down memory lane is still worth a good chuckle.

The illness that hit Scottie Scheffler at last week’s BMW Championship caused him to post a T-12 finish. With the $425K he earned, Scheffler is still $608,505 short of Tiger’s $120,999,166. As Scheffler comes to the Tour Championship, however, there’s $40 million in prize money payouts available. That means a solo 13th finish or better at East Lake will earn him enough to knock off Woods at No. 1 for the first time since February 2000. How likely is that to happen? Well, a year ago, when all players started at even par at East Lake, Scheffler finished T-4. Meanwhile, in his other five starts, he has four top-six finishes.

On the 14th hole of the BMW Championship on Sunday, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Wyndham Clark, who had spoiled a five-shot 54-hole lead at Bellerive, was taking an awful long time to hit his second shout out of the rough. Clark, with multiple different clubs, tamped down the grass behind the ball to gauge his lie at least seven times. Even CBS announcer Frank Nobilo made a comment about it. After lead analyst Trevor Immelman said "he's taking a long look at this thing, this is like the third club he's placed down behind the ball," Nobilo quickly responded with "so the lie might be better." Hmm...

Twitter user Michael Lawrence captured the entire sequence in three separate clips. It's certainly a head-scratcher:

Nothing to see here, right? Well, this is not the first time the internet has come after Clark for something similar. A day after his second U.S. Open win at Shinnecock, a video went viral of Clark hitting a chip shot near the ninth green. The camera angle didn't show much, but a lot of folks seemed to think he may have been, let's just say, tamping down some high grass during his pre-shot routine. The conspiracy theorists are at it again here, and Nobilo may be one of them.